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PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:50 am 
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Location: Washington DC/Chesapeake Bay
UPDATE

I bought new cradles and they are different than the ones DavidBell47 posted. The new ones are as sunvista describes, a large eyestrap underneath bolts around the axle and into embedded nuts fore and aft, vise side-to-side and through the axle as in DavidBell47s photo. I would prefer the latter as the more solid attachment that will keep the cradles in position better. I plan to install self-tappers through the strap and into the axle, hopefully that will keep them in place well enough.

For what it's worth.

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Last edited by Jman6631 on Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:35 pm 
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Location: Southern California
I went ahead and ordered the CatTrax with the cradles.

They were $600 plus after shipping. The good news is that I was able to sell a couple sets of spare sails (I have 4 sets) on Ebay that covered the expense.

I figured that I needed wheels more than the spare sets of sails.

Thanks for all the advise.

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:54 am 
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I have made my own cradles for the trailer and am now thinking about making some for the cat trax.

Where are the weights located on the cradles that have weights? It seems like none of the cradles have enough weight on the bottom to keep them from flipping upside down. Thoughts?
sunvista wrote:
I don't know if Cat trax has cradles with weights in the bottom but that is a really nice feature. The cradles are always face up. Its a pain when the cradles are always upside down or rotate independently of one another. The Roleez Cateez has (or use to have) weighted cradles.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 5:26 pm 
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i dont think they have weights

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 6:26 pm 
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PurdueZach wrote:
I have made my own cradles for the trailer and am now thinking about making some for the cat trax.

Where are the weights located on the cradles that have weights? It seems like none of the cradles have enough weight on the bottom to keep them from flipping upside down. Thoughts?
sunvista wrote:
I don't know if Cat trax has cradles with weights in the bottom but that is a really nice feature. The cradles are always face up. Its a pain when the cradles are always upside down or rotate independently of one another. The Roleez Cateez has (or use to have) weighted cradles.


What do you need weights for? There's enough resistance in the fiberglass roller bearings that they (THE CRADLES) would remain upright until you can get your boat on them. You can pull the boat off the trailer onto the cradles, solo. I made two marks on the inside of each hull indicating the center of gravity. I sat the boat down on the cradles inside those marks.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:20 am 
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The rolleez cradles had weights in the bottom. A molded part of the cradle hung below the axle and filled with weight was used to hold them upright. It's a good idea since flipping the cradles upright is a PITA, especially if you only have one or two people. The cattrax are more popular, but they never had weighted cradles. I'm sure they could be modified to have weights, but its not really a big enough deal for most people to worry about.

If you have a 16, I don't really see any need for cradles in the first place however. The shape of the hull really doesn't need to be supported by a cradle, they're strong enough to sit on a straight roller just fine.

sm


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:43 am 
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srm wrote:
The rolleez cradles had weights in the bottom. A molded part of the cradle hung below the axle and filled with weight was used to hold them upright. It's a good idea since flipping the cradles upright is a PITA, especially if you only have one or two people. The cattrax are more popular, but they never had weighted cradles. I'm sure they could be modified to have weights, but its not really a big enough deal for most people to worry about.

If you have a 16, I don't really see any need for cradles in the first place however. The shape of the hull really doesn't need to be supported by a cradle, they're strong enough to sit on a straight roller just fine.

sm

I'm wanting cradles more for advantage of the boat staying put on the cat trax. I solo sail a considerable amount and thought that cradles would make things easier to load the boat onto the cat trax.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:12 pm 
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PurdueZach wrote:
srm wrote:
The rolleez cradles had weights in the bottom. A molded part of the cradle hung below the axle and filled with weight was used to hold them upright. It's a good idea since flipping the cradles upright is a PITA, especially if you only have one or two people. The cattrax are more popular, but they never had weighted cradles. I'm sure they could be modified to have weights, but its not really a big enough deal for most people to worry about.

If you have a 16, I don't really see any need for cradles in the first place however. The shape of the hull really doesn't need to be supported by a cradle, they're strong enough to sit on a straight roller just fine.

sm

I'm wanting cradles more for advantage of the boat staying put on the cat trax. I solo sail a considerable amount and thought that cradles would make things easier to load the boat onto the cat trax.


Will cradles allow you to load, unload and maneuver your H16 easier ??? Absolutely !!! I had sailed mostly solo ever since I had purchased my boat and I eventually graduated into cradles. Two of the reasons are stability and balance. I had two marks inside both hulls indicating the center of balance which, by the way, is about 20 inches aft the shrouds which is typically where you would tie off your Cat Trax without cradles. With the Trax at the shrouds, the balance is stern heavy. Twenty inches aft the shrouds you will find a perfectly balanced boat. This means that you don't have to use your weight to hold the bows down while moving it. You can just pull it along with one hand if you want. It's that easy.

Image

And, when when the boat sitting, you can allow the it to sit bows down or stern down making it easier to access different parts of your boat while rigging. You will NOT be sorry. See pic below.

Image

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:24 pm 
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If you built essentially a box out of wood that slipped over and bolted to the outside of the axle and then covered it in carpet, you would have a flat surface that wouldn't allow the wheels to kick out from under the hull (basically turning the outside of the beach wheels from a round axle to a square axle). The axle would naturally rotate until your hull is sitting on the flat of the "box", so you'd never have to worry about orienting the cradles or making weighted cradles and the wheels wouldn't want to roll out from under the boat. Using cradles for a round hulled boat on a H16 always seemed a little silly to me. You could achieve the same thing with a piece of wood for a fraction of the cost. Just a thought.

sm


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 4:34 pm 
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srm wrote:
If you built essentially a box out of wood that slipped over and bolted to the outside of the axle and then covered it in carpet, you would have a flat surface that wouldn't allow the wheels to kick out from under the hull (basically turning the outside of the beach wheels from a round axle to a square axle). The axle would naturally rotate until your hull is sitting on the flat of the "box", so you'd never have to worry about orienting the cradles or making weighted cradles and the wheels wouldn't want to roll out from under the boat. Using cradles for a round hulled boat on a H16 always seemed a little silly to me. You could achieve the same thing with a piece of wood for a fraction of the cost. Just a thought.

sm


Be advised that the nylon bearings in the Trax will render just enough resistance so that the cradles will remain in an upright position until you can get your boat settled inside them. Also, you won't have to concern yourself with the hulls being unstable when pivoting the boat while maneuvering. Know that the shape of cradles applies just enough pressure to where you may not need to tie the Trax down. The cost for cradles, $100. No building anything. You decide !!! :)

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